The Crafty Pint Podcast

On this episode of The Crafty Pint Podcast, Will’s joined as co-host by Luke McCarthy, editor of our fledgling sibling publication, The Full Measure .  It’s a fitting week for Luke to join too, given we ran a story on Steve Brooks’ decision to retire and sell Captain Bligh’s, which makes whisky and other spirits alongside beer in Hobart. Will and Luke also thoroughly enjoyed Neil Richardson’s...

“If you don’t want to fail, then don’t do anything.” We've swapped the somewhat risky task of recording our weekly news show from the stage at an awards night for the safe surrounds of our regular podcast studio this week – albeit still playing with the format a little. In the first half of this week's show, Will and James look back on their experiences at Grainstock in the Riverina, as well as wh...

We’re back at Grainstock for another special edition of The Crafty Pint Podcast, featuring a lineup of guests offering a cross-section of the topics covered at the Voyager Craft Malt-curated industry gathering. First up in the Lallemand-sponsored podcast studio at the Whitton Malt House is event founder Stu Whytcross, providing an update on all things Voyager, including their altered trajectory, i...

"It should feel fun, it should feel celebratory, we should all feel a part of it." Welcome to a special edition of our Weekly News show, recorded onstage at The Beer Championships after the final trophies were handed out. We were joined by competition co-founder Jayne Lewis and Renn Blackman, part of a ten-strong contingent from the Torquay-based brewery who collected two trophies on the night. Yo...

"When I first moved to Australia, I felt Australian beer was so far behind... I think we're at least on par with the US right now." When we switched The Crafty Pint Podcast to a dedicated weekly news show (plus fortnightly extended interviews ), we promised we might invite on the occasional guest. Doing that has taken precisely one week – and what a special guest we have for you. Mazen Hajjar will...

“The freedom in beer pairing is much, much bigger than with wine.” Rob and Bronwyn Kabboord have been responsible for some of the most enjoyable – and often spectacular – beer and food pairings I’ve experienced. And I’m pretty sure there will be plenty of others out there who can say the same. During their time running Merricote in Westgarth, they combined Rob’s incredible dishes and a legendary c...

It’s all change at The Crafty Pint Podcast. Well, if not all change, then certainly a fair bit of it in terms of format, scheduling and frequency. From this week’s episode onwards, you can look forward to 50 percent more shows as we instigate an evolution that’s been on the cards for some time: splitting the opening “Week On Crafty” segments into one show, and the giving the long-form interviews a...

“Sometimes the most unsuspecting whisky can turn out to be the best boilermaker you’ve ever had.” We take another trip inside the world of hospitality this week with the couple behind award-winning whisky (and beer and boilermakers) bar, Whisky & Alement . Brooke Hayman and Julian White are hospo lifers (albeit with a past dalliance in circus acrobatics for good measure), who have been at the...

"We're just trying to make really bright, clean, aromatic beer every time." Future Brewing have been at the centre of some wholesome beer world camaraderie in recent weeks, with the Inner West Ale Trail – and others – rallying behind them with a Love Thy Neighbour fundraiser and beer to assist the brewery as they battle ongoing challenges to their existence. It made co-founder Brady Hannett’s visi...

In this exclusive series - The New Hop Order, presented by HPA - The Crafty Pint Podcast explores what’s happening on the cutting edge of hop innovation from breeding and processing to brewing. In this episode, we’re talking with Haas Director of Hop Breeding Michael Ferguson and Haas Sensory Manager Jeff Dailey about sustainable replacements for classic hops that are highly susceptible to climate...

"That's what it's about at the end of the day: connections, community and people.” What is the essence of good hospitality? What is its purpose, and how do you give people what they want in 2026? As they set out to reimagine Mr West in Footscray – complete with transforming the downstairs bottleshop into a new drink-in space called The Cave – we invited Josh Hodges and Jack Roebuck on to the show...

“It’s still fun. That’s the best part.” CoConspirators are in the midst of a year of tenth anniversary celebrations – and approaching five years at their Brunswick brewpub – so we figured it was a fine time to invite the two couples behind the brewery on the show. It gave us the chance to do things a bit differently too: interviewing the couples separately – while aiming to keep the questions as d...

“I hope everybody snacks. If you don't snack, fix that. Lindsy Greig’s career in craft beer saw her depart New Orleans for New Zealand before jumping across The Ditch to brew in Australia. After arriving on these shores, Lindsy brewed for Stomping Ground then worked in brewery management software with Beer30. These days, she is HPA’s sales rep for New Zealand. It’s a role that sees Lindsy travel f...

Excuse us while we interrupt our usual programming for an important announcement... As the eagle-eyed and hawk-eared among you will have ascertained from hints dropped in recent weeks, we've been working on a major new project. And that project is now live. Sixteen years on from launching The Crafty Pint, we've created The Full Measure : a publication dedicated to the world of Australian spirits....

"We shifted the needle so hard in so many ways.” If you can point me in the direction of anyone in Australia who ticks more of the stereotypical “craft beer guy” boxes than Ryan Davidson, I’m all ears. He went from a nerd making video games to a nerd making beer in the garage of fellow video-gaming-beer-nerd-mate Fil Kemp, and now that he’s no longer part of the brewery they founded, Little Bang B...

“People just want connection.” We head to WA’s South West in this week’s episode to catch up with Margarita Wallace, who’s been working on brand and marketing for Eagle Bay Brewing since the brewery’s earliest days. Very much part of the Eagle Bay family – not least now she’s married to one of the siblings on whose family farm in Cape Naturaliste the brewery is located – we chat about creating mem...

"Science communication is a very lovely place with lots of lovely people." This week, The Crafty Pint Podcast heads to Tasmania to catch up with Science Made Beerable. The not-for-profit was launched by Kelsey Picard and Matt Fielding in 2020 as a National Science Week event. In the years since, they've continued to explore the science of beer by inviting different breweries to engage in an annual...

"All these things, from branding to product, come back to your identity." After a few weeks spent exploring the annals of The Crafty Pint Podcast, we return to our regular programming this week, as Clint Weaver joins us the studio. Clint has spent close to a decade running Pocketbeagles, a graphic design business that focuses on making craft beer (and other beverages) look better. If you've looked...

“I'm still passionate about what I do, I still love what I do, and I still think I'm one of the luckiest people in the world.” In the last Another Round episode of The Crafty Pint Podcast, in which we’re rerunning some of our favourite shows from the past two years while various team members are overseas, we figured why not head overseas here too. What’s more, given it’s winter in Australia and pl...

“I can kind of do whatever I want and two or three weeks later send the beer out and see what happens.” In the third of our Another Round episodes, in which we dip into the 100-plus past shows of The Crafty Pint Podcast throughout July while various team members are overseas, we return to our chat with Rhys Lopez, founder of one-man-band Evil Mega Corp . He takes us into the thinking behind his un...

With some in The Crafty Pint Podcast team spending much of winter travelling, we’re tapping into a few past episodes for July. For round two of Another Round, we head back to the Riverina to revisit our chat with Brad Woolner and Stu Whytcross from Voyager Craft Malt . The best mates and business partners have helped pioneer small-scale malting in Australia, including through the launch of Grainst...

In this exclusive series - The New Hop Order, presented by HPA - The Crafty Pint Podcast explores what’s happening on the cutting edge of hop innovation from breeding and processing to brewing. In this episode, we’re talking with BarthHaas Customer Solutions Expert Christina Schönberger and Jopen’s Head Brewer Daniel Schappert about using Prysma™ to craft hop flavour that lasts a shelf lifetime.

Something a little different from The Crafty Pint Podcast this week – and for the rest of July too. As flagged in recent episodes, we’re taking a short break from running new full-length interviews. All three key players in the production of the show are on back-to-back overseas trips and a major new project is coming to fruition soon. The beer news keeps coming, however, so we’re still recording...

“I don't see any ceiling for non-alc beer.” It’s fair to say there were plenty of skeptics when non-alcoholic beer first started to appear in earnest in the local beer scene. Yet, in the half-decade-plus since we ran a blind tasting featuring early entrants to the market, the sector has grown and grown. While some brands have come and gone, there’s a growing number of established brands and many o...

“Year one for us is proof of concept.” In January, we unveiled plans for a new form of beer awards being conceived by industry titans Justin Fox and Jayne Lewis. Five months on and submissions are now open for The Beer Championships , so we invited them to join us on the show to find out more. We delve into the genesis for this new approach to assessing and celebrating greatness in beer, their rea...